


Migraine

by JoAsakura



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Drabble, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-31
Updated: 2012-05-31
Packaged: 2017-11-06 11:16:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/418268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoAsakura/pseuds/JoAsakura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>http://joasakura.tumblr.com/post/24129276657/as-a-migraine-sufferer-i-can-relate-to-how</p><p>I was inspired by StoneLion's gorgeous drawing on tumblr earlier today. I hope i did their art justice. :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Migraine

Despite the acupuncture, the biofeedback and the nasty-smelling swamp-water smoothies festering in the fridge, sometimes, the migraines just happen. The L2s are capricious and all it takes is right combination of weather and stress. And if Kaidan’s at all lucky, it at least happens at home.

He knows the aura, the warning signs, intimately well. A smell like burning rubber and a squirming white halo on the papers spread out on his desk. The way the back of his mouth tastes like what eezo looks like.

He hates Shepard seeing him like this, but at the same time, he’s grateful when he’s there. Grateful because Shepard reads him like an open book, and sometimes before he’s aware that the aura’s setting in, the lights are already dimming and a packet of pain meds and a cold, caffeinated drink are in his hands.

And after all that, they just sit (quietly, because sound and light are like needles to the brain), and Shepard’s hands, rough and gentle and cool, stroke Kaidan’s hair. Shepard’s always careful to avoid the socket for Kaidan’s amp, as well. It feels like an alien growth burning into the base of his skull when the migraine settles in.

In the dark, Kaidan curls against him on the couch, rain tapping outside their window. Shepard is solid and just the right temperature, and the steady beating of his heart is just enough of a lullabye to sort-of-distract him from the pain.

Kaidan’s always prided himself on being Shepard’s rock, his steady centre of calm. But once in a while, he’s grateful to have that favour returned.


End file.
